Bethlehem to hand out free parking

Bethlehem will be offering the deal only to motorists registered to pay the meters by phone — the MobileNOW! system — on Nov. 29, dubbed "Small Business Saturday," and Dec. 13, the second Saturday before Christmas. That's historically one of the busiest Saturdays for holiday shopping.

And there are other free parking promotions throughout the season.

Melissa Bowman, manager of Sophistikate on Main Street, said such a promotion and alternative payment option can help businesses because parking is a major concern among customers.

"You do hear a lot with the customers always racing to feed their meters," Bowman said.

Bethlehem's promotion is aimed at getting more people to use its pay-by-phone system. It allows registered users to add minutes to the meter by phone if they are running late, or be credited the money they put in the meter if they leave early.

In offering another option to pay for parking, Bethlehem is doing what other small downtowns across the country have tried as they compete with suburban malls surrounded by convenient and free parking.

Easton has offered free parking for all metered spots and surface lots — but not the garage — every weekend during the holidays, when merchants' ledgers historically slip into the black.

"It's a great marketing tool for the holidays. No excuses. People can't say they have to pay to shop here," said Kim Kmetz, manager of Easton's Main Street Initiative. "This is council giving back to the merchants who invest their time and energy in the downtown and customers who come year-round and plug the meters."

The Bethlehem Parking Authority rolled out the pay-by-phone pilot program two years ago and recently signed a three-year contract. Allentown began its pilot program for MobileNOW! earlier this year.

"Throughout the pilot, we received excellent feedback about the MobileNOW! platform, and customers love using the app as well as the ability to only pay for time parked," said Kevin Livingston, executive director of the Bethlehem Parking Authority.

"We have a lot of customers using MobileNOW! to pay for parking, and the adoption rate continues to grow."

To get the free parking, you need to register your spot as you would on a normal day, but the transaction won't charge you the cost of parking — 50 cents for a half-hour — or the 25-cent transaction fee Nov. 29 or Dec. 13.

The offer is good at any metered spot or at pay stations. Permit parking and hourly garage parking are not part of the promotion.

But make sure you register the meter. The free parking doesn't apply to those just feeding the meter with quarters.

To get an idea of how big of a gift the authority is offering, consider the past performance of the parking business. The average daily meter revenue last November was $4,153 and last December, $3,486. Last year, during a similar promotion, the authority issued 264 tickets Nov. 30 and 77 tickets Dec. 14. Last year, 119 motorists took advantage of the pay-by-phone system Nov. 30 and 144 Dec. 14.

This year, the authority is adding other incentives for people to register.

From now until Dec. 13, the Parking Authority is also giving away free parking and gift cards to new customers. The first 50 users will get $20 in their accounts. Three $25 gift certificates from the Downtown Bethlehem Association will be randomly given to customers, and one $100 DBA gift card will be awarded to a new customer by Dec. 13.

Four $100 gift cards will be randomly selected among MobileNOW! customers.

And the new ambassadors, charged with cleaning up and welcoming patrons in the South Side Business District, and costumed tour guides on Main Street will be handing out 300 one-hour parking vouchers to people on the street.